


Magic Touch

by JennaLee



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dom Holly, F/M, Light Dom/sub, Magical Bondage, Oral Sex, Praise Kink, Smut, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Witch Holly, sub Dan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 05:22:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16825990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennaLee/pseuds/JennaLee
Summary: Holly is a witch, struggling to make ends meet in Los Angeles as she pursues a life outside of her coven. The isolation of city life is just something she'll have to come to terms with.When a client approaches her with an unusual problem, Holly finds more than she expected in her search for a cure.





	Magic Touch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HerbertBest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerbertBest/gifts).



> This work is a commissioned piece for HerbertBest. If you would like to commission me, send a message to j-lyn on tumblr!

Holly sighed as she dragged her bags inside her tiny studio apartment and shut the door. 

Rent was due in three days. She had bills to pay. And her haul from this weekend’s magic market would barely cover the supplies she desperately needed to replace. The market had been busy, and Holly’s booth always attracted interest, but lately, few people wanted to fork over their cash. 

Today had been especially tiresome. Cheapskates tried to haggle down her prices. Middle-aged ladies came by to treat her like a free encyclopedia. Kids pawed at the pretty crystals while their parents turned a blind eye. Smirking teens asked her how high they could get from smoking dried mugwort. And one man, after his wife was out of earshot, asked Holly with a wink if she’d like to show him what kind of magic she could really do. And then he’d walked by, uncomfortably close, to peer down her shirt. 

All Holly could do was glare, biting her tongue to stop herself from giving him a taste of her newly levelled-up shock spell. Because even though this was a magic market, nobody _really_ believed in magic - at least not the kind trueborn witches could conjure. Any ordinary human could feel the effects of bundled herbs, brimstone candles, or the energy of raw crystals clasped in their hands. With knowledge and practice, they could work magic on an extremely small scale. But even a lifelong Wiccan would run screaming if they saw Holly throw a fire ball or levitate off the ground. No real witch dared show her powers in this age of cameras and smart phones.

Although, Holly reasoned as she lit a charcoal tablet beneath her resin incense burner, it was good that she lived in an age of logic and skepticism. She could run her side business from home without fear that her clients would come back with a pitchfork-wielding mob. If anyone informed the local authorities that there was a real witch living in downtown Los Angeles, they’d be laughed out of the room. 

Holly sold her witchcraft supplies online as well as in local markets and conventions when she could. Her knowledge and general advice was free to anyone who wished to browse her website. But as part of her online services, she also offered direct assistance to select clients who wished to pay a steeper fee to see her in person. She screened these clients carefully - too many people thought that a witch was the same thing as a psychic or necromancer, wanting to know their futures or whether their dead grandma was pissed about how they squandered the fortune she left them. Of those that passed muster, most were thrilled with very ordinary displays of magic. Holly could enhance the vibration of crystals, cause candle flames to flare up at will, burn herbs that deepened personal insight to bring clarity or peace of mind. 

But every so often she encountered somebody who needed something stronger, and Holly would delve into her real powers.

Most people were shocked, thrilled, terrified, disbelieving - but they also couldn’t deny the proof. Holly could cure minor rashes, warts and headaches; she could lessen the effects of conditions like arthritis; she could create powerful visions; she could even read the surface of someone’s mind. And she could be fairly certain that they would tell only a few people or none at all. Nobody wanted to be laughed at. Nobody had proof. And nobody was going to raise too much of a fuss over someone’s story of a woman hawking herbs and homemade candles and spiritual advice.

It wasn’t an easy life. Truthfully, Holly hated living in Los Angeles. Sometimes, she longed for the days of her ancestors, woods witches and swamp witches who would live in a shack far away from other humans. They were respected, revered, and feared. And, for the most part, left alone. 

Alone. That was what she wanted, wasn’t it? 

Holly went to the bedroom window, which looked out over the busy parking lot of a Walgreens. There was a bus stop practically right beside her building. There were people everywhere, swarms of them, but there was a terrible sense of loneliness to it all. 

Noise and smog and concrete. Holly hated it. She hated the desert, the barren earth, the monotonous weather. She could bear it all back when she had friends here. But there was no coven in LA anymore. Jared and Heidi were gone. So were the rest of the witches she knew. 

_I could have gone with them. Jared wanted me to go…_

There were other things he wanted, though, and Holly wasn’t sure she could give him anything more than friendship, as much as she loved him.

The loneliness was pressing in on her from all sides. Holly gave herself a shake. 

She didn’t need the coven. She didn’t need anyone or anything. She could do this - she could prove them all wrong. Life was tough, but Holly was tougher. At least, she had to try.

Holly swallowed down her fears and frustrations. She fed her cats and opened the bird cage to let Feathers roam free. She put the kettle on and plucked a few leaves of peppermint from the tiny terracotta pot by the window to make tea. Clutching the steaming mug, she let its warmth and the scent of burning myrrh wash over her, warm and comforting. She tried to feel hopeful as she booted up her ancient laptop and checked her messages.

Unfortunately, there were no new sales or clients. They were all notifications of comments on her online store. Reviews and praise made her smile, but they didn’t exactly pay the bills. She tried not to let her thoughts continue to spiral down. _You’ve got this. You can do this._

But at the bottom of her inbox, there was one new email from an unknown sender. The subject line was _Urgent help needed - curse or hex?_

Holly’s cursor hovered over it. It could be a hoax. Worse, it could be some asshole who honestly thought she could teach them how to hurt someone else with magic. Neither was uncommon. But on the off chance that this was something real, she opened the message.

She read quickly. “Probably a prank,” she decided, out loud for the benefit of Mojo, sitting at her side. “What do you think, Mojo?”

Mojo gave her an inscrutable look, then narrowed her eyes to slits.

“Yeah,” Holly sighed. “I agree.” 

But, fuck. She really did need the money. Was it dangerous to give her address out? Probably. Safer than going to their place, though. And they couldn’t exactly get together somewhere public to do this. 

Holly typed out her reply, then curled up on the couch with Mojo and the stuffed owl Jared had given her. Mojo, sensing her sadness, put a paw across her arm. Holly buried her face in the owl and tried to think of something else beyond the tedium of her life and the isolated concrete desert she lived in. 

She didn’t let herself sulk for long.

Someday, something would change. She’d get out of here, like she always wanted. She’d find success. She would see her friends again, become part of the coven, just like the old days.

But for now, she had to tough it out. There was a client coming. There was work to do.

Holly combed her hair with her fingers and got to work.

**

Her barrier crystal began to glow just minutes before she heard his footsteps outside in the hall.

She peered at him through the peephole when he knocked jauntily at her door. Working from home had its perks, but dealing with creepers and other undesirables was not one of them. Holly had a select range of offensive spells, but a problem avoided was always better than a problem that escalated. 

The man standing at her door was tall, but not big or particularly intimidating. His clothes looked ratty but clean. Big holes in the knees of his jeans. But he looked like he’d showered at least in the last two days, which was a good sign. While you couldn’t tell everything about a person from the way they looked, it helped to notice the little details. Holly did a quick mental assessment and didn’t come up with any immediate red flags, so she opened the door.

“Hi,” she said. “You’re Dan, right?”

“Yeah.” His eyes lit up at the sight of her. “You’re Holly?”

Holly’s guard went all the way the fuck up. She’d dealt with this too many times before. When his gaze immediately slid to her chest, she bristled, ready to send him running with his tail tucked between his legs with a good shock spell.

“I like your shirt,” he blurted before the incantation could pass Holly’s lips.

It threw her. She blinked, looking up at the six-foot-something man with his ridiculously huge hair and puppy-dog eyes. “Excuse me?”

“Your shirt. The Birthday Massacre? I’m a huge fan. I just noticed it when you…I was looking at your necklace and I, um…” Dan’s face reddened as he realized what she’d thought. “Oh! Oh, fuck. I really didn’t mean to, to look at, um.”

“My chest?” she asked bluntly.

“Yeah.” He looked down at the floor, shuffling his feet. “Please don’t…hex me or something. I’ve kinda had enough of that for one lifetime.”

Holly took note of the tension visible in the man’s shoulders, the way he was ready to run. Holly generally liked it when people were intimidated by her, but not because she was cruel or wanted to be cruel. She felt herself deflate. 

“It’s fine,” she told him, shortly but not coldly. “Come inside.”

“I guess you get that a lot?” Dan ventured as she led him into her apartment. “Guys being creeps?”

Holly shrugged. “Sometimes. Comes with the territory.”

“You’d think they’d be scared. Seeing as you’re a, um. Witch? Wiccan? Spell caster? You know what I mean.”

Holly actually felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Any term is fine. _Witch_ is the most accurate. But I don’t really care.”

“Oh. Good. I wasn’t sure. I don’t know the PC term, or if, you know, it’s offensive if you get called one or the other…”

“I’ve been called worse,” Holly said dryly, lighting a resin burner. “Crazy cat lady. Dirty hippie. Satan’s whore.”

Dan’s head jerked up at that last one, and he laughed. “Really? Holy shit. You’re not joking, are you?” 

“I wish I was. Men have always been terrified of us.” Holly directed him onto the couch, since Mojo had taken over the armchair. “They used to believe we cut off their penises and kept them in birds’ nests.”

“Seriously?” Dan actually looked interested, which was - well, Holly wasn’t used to people wanting to hear more from her when she talked about the history of witchcraft and the persecution of women and witches. Especially not men. But Dan was giving her his full attention. Not leering or flirting at all. Refreshing, really.

She found herself talking more than she normally would. “It’s in the Malleus Maleficarum. A witch-hunting manual from the fifteenth century. Apparently, witches would take penises and keep them like pets, feeding them oats. There’s a story in there about a man who tried to get his penis back from a witch, and she told him which nest to look in so he could pick out which one belonged to him. He tried to take the biggest one he saw, but the witch didn’t let him, because it belonged to a priest.”

Dan broke out into real laughter. Holly couldn’t help but notice that he had very nice white, even teeth. “That’s actually in a _book_?”

“Some men will believe the craziest things about women. Especially powerful women.” 

“I believe it.” Dan was looking all around the apartment, taking in the bird cages and the snake terrariums. Then Mojo decided to stand up with a yawn, drawing Dan’s attention. He brightened. “Oh, you have a cat!”

“That’s Mojo.” Holly didn’t bother explaining what a familiar was. 

Mojo stretched luxuriously, her claws plucking at the upholstery. She regarded Dan with her cool green eyes, and then, to Holly’s shock, jumped off the chair and up onto the couch. Dan held out his hand. Mojo gave it one sniff, and slowly made her way into his lap.

“Well,” Holly said, blinking. “That’s weird.”

“What‘s weird?”

“She’s really shy. She normally doesn’t like other people.”

Mojo, now perched precariously on Dan’s skinny thighs, looked at Holly and started to purr. 

Holly trusted her familiar. Mojo had powers, too. If Dan had a single negative thought - be it malicious or just slightly mocking - Mojo would not purr for him. For the first time since he’d walked in, she let herself relax. 

“Does he bother the bird?”

“She,” Holly corrected absently. “And no. The bird is First Officer Feathers. They get along.”

Dan chuckled, but didn’t comment on the name. “Is he a pigeon? I didn’t know people kept pigeons.” There wasn’t a trace of judgment in Dan’s voice. 

But being friendly to strangers still didn’t come naturally to her. She found herself speaking briskly, business-like. “Some do. They’re good pets. But let’s talk about why you’re here. Your email was a little vague.”

“Yeah.” Dan said sheepishly. “It’s just that…I felt kind of weird, contacting a witch. And my best friend and band mate was in the room with me, and he’s not exactly…um, open to alternative theories. He’s a very scientific guy. Actually, he’s a physics professor.”

Holly knew the type. Hard-headed. Arrogant. Completely out of tune with the spiritual world, just because they couldn’t accept that not everything could be analyzed with scientific data and traditional research. She didn’t want to say anything insulting about Dan’s friend, though, so she just said, “You’re in a band? What’s it called?”

Dan averted his eyes and pretended to be very absorbed in scratching Mojo’s ear. “Um. It’s. Okay, it’s - it’s supposed to be funny. It’s a comedy band. It’s called Ninja Sex Party.”

Holly’s laugh surprised her. From the look of him, she‘d expected him to be in some ‘80s revival group, playing rock in someone’s garage in their grungy jeans and band tees. “You’re in a band called Ninja Sex Party? With a physics professor?”

“I know. Try explaining _that_ to your accountant when you get your taxes done, right? But that’s the main reason I’m here. My singing career.”

“You said it was because someone cursed you.” 

“Yeah. See, she, um. She cursed…my voice.”

“You sound fine to me.” 

“I mean my singing voice.”

Holly raised an eyebrow. That was a difficult hex to pull off, if Dan was telling the truth. “Who was this person who cursed you?”

“It’s kind of a long story.”

Holly just shrugged. “Knowing more about the circumstances could be helpful in finding the right cure. Some curses require ongoing maintenance. Some will wear off on their own. Some need continuous access to something that belonged to you.”

“Like a voodoo doll.”

“Not exactly. More like a body part. Or fluid. Blood, for example.” 

Dan’s eyes widened. _“Blood?”_

“Blood magic is a thing. A powerful thing. I doubt that’s what you’re dealing with.”

“How do you know?”

“Um. You’d probably be dealing with more than the lack of ability to sing. Blood adds power. Even a weak witch can work some serious shit with a few drops of blood.”

“Do you…um.” Dan looked around as if he expected to see a bloody stone altar somewhere in the corner. He didn’t sound afraid, exactly. More like he was in awe of her. “I don’t mean to pry, but…”

“Most witches choose not to use it.” Holly decided not to clarify her personal stance. If she was being truthful with herself, she was kind of enjoying Dan’s reactions. She _liked_ the respect and wariness in his eyes when he looked at her - looked at her like she was a flame, dancing and flickering, warm and inviting and ultimately deadly. 

“Most,” Dan repeated, almost to himself. 

Holly smiled. She finally sat down, on the vacated armchair. Mojo had left a nice warm spot for her to sit in. “So,” she said, more firmly. “Tell me more about what happened.”

“There was this girl,” Dan began. “She was…well. There was a…misunderstanding between us, and…”

Holly raised an eyebrow. “Girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, or one-night stand?”

Dan actually blushed. Holly wasn’t sure she’d ever seen a man blush before. “That’s also a long story. We met at the studio where I record my vocals. She’s a promotion manager for a big label. She was being really forward with me, wanting me to spend the night with her.”

“You don’t sound excited.”

“I’m not. I wasn’t. She was pretty but I wasn’t into her attitude or the way she treated my friends. She asked me to come home with her in front of Brian and some of her label people. Well, she didn’t even ask. She assumed.”

“That’s presumptuous.”

“Right?” Dan grimaced. “I was just hanging out with some of the guys I work with - these awesome musicians that sometimes tour with Brian and I - and one of them asked me why I wasn’t coming to this show with them. I was confused, because I’d already said I was going. And that’s when Brian said that this girl had been telling everyone that I was spending the night with her. As I’m telling everybody that I have no idea where she got that idea, she walks into the room.”

“Ouch.”

“I told her that I wasn’t going anywhere with her and that I had no idea why she’d think such a thing. I wasn’t mean. Just firm, you know?”

Holly nodded.

“I thought she took it pretty easily. She just went quiet and said there was a misunderstanding, and then she left. But then when I left, she was waiting out by my car.”

That reminded Holly of a similar situation from her past. Only, for her, it had been a former partner. Thinking of him now, she shuddered. Her fingers instinctively grasped her silver and black tourmaline ring. 

Dan was rubbing his arm, like a nervous tic. Holly felt a rush of sympathy she didn’t expect. “Jesus,” she said. “I’m sorry. That must have been scary.”

“Right? I was nervous. Especially when she raised her hand at me. I was thinking about how I was going to fight back without hurting her, just to protect myself. I’d never hit anybody before. And you know, a woman…I don’t mean to be sexist, but I was sort of taught to never ever hit a woman. Even if she was hurting me, I’d feel horrible.”

“Did she try to hit you?”

“No. I saw a flash of…of blue light. Bright blue. Like a beam of something, not like a flashlight or anything. And something hit me. I was almost knocked over. My legs froze and my throat felt tight and tingly. I looked up at her and tried to ask for help, or something - it all happened so fast, it didn’t register that she was the one who did it to me - and then I saw her fingers…glowing.”

A witch, able to cast wandlessly, and maybe non-verbally. That wasn’t good. “What happened next?”

“She laughed and said, ‘Good luck with your concert next weekend.’ Well, there was one word after that, but I don’t like saying it out loud. Let’s just say she heavily insinuated that I must be into men, if I didn’t want to sleep with her.”

“I can guess what she called you. What did you say back?”

“Nothing. I was…I was pretty freaked out.” Dan laughed, a little self-consciously, and rubbed his hands over his face. “I got in my car and went home. Sort of convinced myself that maybe I imagined things.”

“But you didn’t. When did you find out?”

“I had a rehearsal the next day, with Brian and this other band. And when I tried to sing, I…um. I couldn’t.”

“Nothing came out?”

Dan made an odd noise halfway between a laugh and a groan. “Oh, something came out, all right.”

“Can you give me an example?”

Dan winced. “I can try? Maybe it would help if you heard how I usually sound.” He looked around. “Do you have a computer? My phone’s almost dead.”

Holly gave him her laptop. Dan reached carefully over Mojo to type. He had huge hands, Holly noticed. Huge hands and long fingers. “Here,” he said. “This is from our cover album. Just…listen.”

Holly obliged. She was surprised to hear the familiar keyboard intro of a very famous ‘80s synthpop song. When Dan’s voice came in, she couldn’t help but be impressed. His voice was smooth and sultry, maybe even a little - sexy. “Wow. You’re not bad.”

“Thanks. You don’t have to listen to it all,” Dan said hurriedly, reaching out to hit the spacebar. Was he embarrassed? The tips of his big ears were red. “I think you could hear that I generally have the capacity to sing. Not right now, but normally.”

“So what do you sound like now?”

“You want me to just…”

“Sing something. Anything.”

Dan tugged at his own hair, winding a curl around his finger. “Is the same song okay?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

Dan reddened, but took a deep breath and sang.

“ _Talking away_  
I don’t know what I’m to say  
I’ll say it anyway…

Holly’s face screwed up. She couldn’t help it. Mojo went flying from Dan’s lap, ears pressed to her head. Feathers started to shriek. 

Dan shut his mouth, looking mortified. Holly stared at him, completely shocked into silence for a moment. And then she doubled over, laughing harder than she’d laughed in a long time. She laughed until her face hurt, until tears came to her eyes.

Each note was warped, like someone was fucking around with the recording in post, yanking some notes down to a baritone and others up to Mariah Carey-levels of alto insanity. It sounded nothing like the video Dan had showed her. He barely sounded human. 

“Well,” Holly managed, wiping her eyes. “I see the problem.” She couldn’t help but picture Dan, in a studio, surrounded by fellow musicians trying to rehearse - and that ungodly noise coming out of his throat. She stifled her next wave of laughter with a fist pressed to her mouth and ended up making a loud snort. “I’m sorry,” she hiccupped. “That was…wow.”

Dan was bright red. “Yeah. That’s…that’s what I’m dealing with. I had to cancel the show. I made up something about acid reflux. But we go on tour next month, and we’ve already sold out most of the shows. I can’t disappoint everybody like this. We’ll have to refund tickets - and we just spent a lot of money making a music video - and - well - I think you get it.”

Holly sincerely felt bad for him. She also felt bad for still being visibly amused. But she couldn’t help it - this was such a refreshing change of pace after healing acne scars and bunions for years. 

“Oh, no, I’m really sorry.” Dan looked around frantically. “I just remembered, I think I scared your cat.”

“It’s fine. She’s tough.” Mojo was frozen in the bathroom, puffed up to three times her usual size. Holly went and stroked her, grateful for the chance to shake off the giggles. Eventually Mojo calmed down enough to stalk back into the room, glaring at Dan reproachfully. By that time, Holly was all business again, too.

Dan collected himself and raked his fingers through his hair, making it stick straight up in the back. “So,” he said. “My whole career is kinda fucked if I can’t fix this. I tried going to doctors. One of them referred me to a psychiatrist. There’s nothing physically wrong with me, they said. I didn’t tell anyone about what that woman did. I still feel like an idiot saying it out loud.”

“You shouldn’t. That was definitely magic.” Unusual magic at that. Someone had been seriously studying up on one of those juvenile spell textbooks for pranks, jinxes, and other silly, useless magic. “Do you still have to work with her?”

Dan shook his head. “She doesn’t work for me. She was only there because we were sharing the studio with this band that’s on her label. They’re long gone, and so is she. I tried to track her down, but…”

“No luck.” Holly considered. She could ask around, maybe contact the coven. Although a rogue witch cursing men in parking lots without just cause probably didn’t communicate with the coven. She ought to ask anyway, at least to warn others that she could be dangerous.

“Nothing.” Dan sighed. “I’ve tried everything. Eventually I kind of realized that maybe…that weird light wasn’t just my imagination. And then I got in touch with somebody who recommended a, um. An unconventional approach.”

“Me.”

Dan gave a rueful little shrug and a lopsided grin that really shouldn’t have been as cute as it was. “I talked to a few friends of mine. One of them pointed me in the direction of a…um, I don’t know if it was a witch. It‘s a guy. Are wizards a thing? Is that a male witch?”

“It’s…complicated. I’d tell you but it would take a while, and we should focus on the, uh, problem at hand.”

“Maybe another time.” Dan immediately looked mortified again. “I mean later today! Not…I wasn’t suggesting that we, um…that I…you know what, never mind.”

“It’s fine,” Holly laughed, watching him squirm. “I didn’t take it the wrong way.”

“Good.” Dan rubbed his thighs. “Anyway, so this witch Jared - ”

“Jared?” she blurted, surprised. It wasn’t an uncommon name, exactly, but there weren’t many male witches around. 

Dan gave her a curious look. “Yeah. He lives in Seattle. He’s friends with this guy I know, this awesome animator. And he told me about you and sent me your website’s contact page. Said you were the most powerful witch in California, maybe even the whole country. Are you two close?”

Holly’s cheeks went warm. So Jared didn’t resent her or her decision not to go with him. She’d have to remember to thank him. “We’re good friends,” she said simply. “I don’t know about being the best. But I’m pretty good at what I do.”

“So do you think, you can like…reverse this spell?”

“I’ll do my best,” she said, truthfully. She wanted to help the poor guy if she could. “Hold on. I’m going to get my grimoires.”

Holly was acutely aware of Dan’s eyes on her as she went to the shelf and reached up to the very top to bring down two ancient books on hexes and jinxes. She found that she didn’t mind the attention. There was something decidedly unthreatening about Dan, and his admiration didn’t make her feel creepy. 

The grimoires were Holly’s pride and joy, handed down generation to generation through almost four centuries. The script had been painstakingly translated and copied over - having been written long before the printing press was invented - and the spells inside were valuable beyond imagination. They were her history, her family’s legacy, the legacy of women and witches through the generations, and all of their hard work and expertise. Holly could feel her connection to them as her fingers carefully thumbed through the pages.

Dan had gone respectfully quiet. She appreciated that. “We’ll need supplies,” Holly said, tracing her finger down a list of hex reversals and mentally translating their Latin root words to English. “You’re lucky I grow so many of my own herbs. A lot of these require the ingredients to be fresh.”

“Where do you grow them? Are you making a potion to cure me?”

“More like a loose tea or infusion than a potion. And the tea is only part of the cure.” Holly walked over to her kitchen window, where she had a hanging windowsill garden. Her mind was running very quickly. Undoing the effects of a spell wasn’t as simple as waving her hands. The longer a hex continued, the more lasting its effects could be. She had bundles of dried herbs as well - not everything could be grown within the constraints of a tiny apartment. There were dried stems, flowers, leaves, buds, sachets of pre-mixed herbs - pretty much everything she could ever need. Holly took care to keep her collection well stocked.

“Pennyroyal?” Dan ventured timidly. 

Holly snapped back to the present. “What?”

“Is that pennyroyal? That plant you just snipped leaves from.”

Holly was pleasantly surprised. “Yes, actually.”

“And that plant over there, in that pot - that’s rosemary.” Dan grinned. “Right?”

He was right, but Holly snorted. “That one’s easy. How about this?” On a whim, Holly found a sprig of an unusual-looking plant, its leaves in tiny bud-like clusters - almost looking like a firework, or like tiny alien broccoli.

“Angelica,” Dan said after a beat. “Garden angelica. _Angelica archangelica_.”

Holly kind of suspected that Dan was showing off a little. And normally she’d be turned off by guys that went out of their way to impress her. But she rarely met men that had any interest in her herbs and crystals. Hell, she rarely met men that didn’t outright make fun of her herbs and crystals.

“Can I ask how you knew that?”

“I studied botany,” Dan admitted. “I’m not that good at it, though. I only remembered that last one because the Latin name stuck with me. We toured this beautiful marsh on a flatboat in France, and that was one of the plant species our guide talked about.”

“You’re a singer in a band with a physics professor and you majored in botany.”

“Actually, I went to school for advertising. The botany thing was kind of on a whim. It was this exchange program, and I wanted to travel, and France sounded nice.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed you’d be interested in either of those fields.”

“Yeah. I get that a lot.” Dan grinned. “I guess I’m full of surprises.”

“You are,” she granted.

Holly was temporarily distracted from the task at hand. She wasn’t the boy-crazy type, never had been. She didn’t often find herself attracted to men. But Dan’s smile was admittedly gorgeous. He was nice to look at. Each feature, when scrutinized, wasn’t extraordinary on its own - his mouth was maybe a little too wide, his eyes a plain brown and widely spaced. The grey in his beard and the laugh lines beneath his eyes seemed at odds with the overall youthful look. Holly had first judged him to be close to her own age, but he could be as old as forty. A young, good-looking forty. And, more importantly, he seemed intelligent and interesting. Humble, too. 

_Focus. He’s a client. What’s gotten into you?_

Holly shook herself. Maybe she’d just been alone for too long. 

When the kettle whistled, she poured the hot water over the leaves, buds and flower petals, mashing them up with a bamboo whisk until the water turned a murky green. This she set before Dan, who looked nervous. 

“You don’t have to eat any of the, uh, chunks,” she assured him. “Just drink the water. Careful, it’s hot.”

Dan drank the herbal infusion with dainty little sips. The first taste made him grimace - it was strong - but he seemed to acclimate quickly. “Magic tea isn’t so bad.”

“Nothing about it is magic, exactly. The herbs are just going to increase your receptivity to my own magic,” she told him, running her finger down a page of healing spells. 

“Good,” Dan said. “Do I need to do anything else? To be um, more receptive to your magic.” He was blushing again. 

Holly gave him a sharp look. That shouldn’t have been as cute as it was. His unexpected effect on her made her brusque. “You can sit still and drink the rest of your tea while I read.”

If that was too mean, Dan didn’t show it. He did as he was told, allowing Holly to study in silence.

She touched the words on the page, written in faded looping cursive script with black ink. She could see the little bloops of ink where her great-great-something-grandmother had re-dipped her quill. She let the words imprint themselves on her brain, on her tongue. 

“I’m going to try a little experimental spell,” she said. “An ancient healing spell mixed with something that’s kind of like an undo button.” That was an oversimplification - there were hundreds of varieties of each spell. She had to get the pronunciation exactly right, and draw upon her knowledge of Latin and Hebrew to make the spells suit the situation. It wasn’t as easy as looking up a word in a dictionary and saying it out loud.

“Why do you use both?” Dan asked curiously.

“The undo spell has a limited window. It needs to be strengthened. The hex has had time to sit and work. Your body has already started getting used to the change, even if you don’t know it. Are you ready?”

Dan blinked. “Um. I think?”

“You think?”

“I just didn’t expect - you were very fast, that’s all. What should I be ready for?”

“You felt magic before. You know it can be alarming. Just, be prepared for it, okay? Don’t freak out. Please don’t yell. And definitely don’t touch me while I’m casting, because you’ll get a direct punch of magic through your body that won’t be good for you.”

Dan‘s eyes, already wide, went wider. “Um. Okay.”

Holly closed her eyes and began to chant. Her black tourmaline ring grew warm quickly. The rhythm and flow of the syllables, foreign yet familiar on her tongue, called forth a feeling of the primeval, like her witch ancestors were speaking with her, through her. She always loved this part. The warmth spread from her fingers through her wrists, and even with her eyes closed, she could see the pinkish glow as the magic began to gather.

“What the hell is that?”

His voice broke her concentration. Holly stumbled over her incantation and felt the flow of magic slow to a trickle. Residual sparks gathered around her fingertips, nipping and buzzing at her like tiny pinpricks. Annoyed, she flicked her fingers, sending them scattering. Dan yelped and jerked away.

“Can you maybe calm down?” Holly asked wearily, flattening the pages of the grimoire. She scrubbed her palms together to dissipate the rest of the energy she’d started to bring forth. “Now we have to start over.”

“It startled me,” Dan admitted, sheepish, yet awed. “You just…your voice, it was so…and that light…”

“I told you to be prepared.”

“I _was_ prepared! I was prepared for it to hurt or something. I wasn’t prepared for it to be so…you know. Beautiful.”

“Mmhmm. Pretty pink light. Focus, Dan.”

“It wasn’t just the light,” he insisted. “It was…fuck, I don’t know. I’m being stupid.” He rubbed his face. “I’m sorry.”

Holly gave him a curious glance. Was he blushing again? “It’s fine. Just…stay still for me this time, okay?”

Dan swallowed. Audibly. “Okay.”

Interesting. She bit her lip as her heart thumped once.

It took her a second to be able to continue. When she started the spell again, Dan didn’t interrupt. 

The energy pooled again, from her heart to her hands. Some witches used wands. Holly did not. She preferred to feel the power more directly, as her clan had always done. She could feel the intensity of the power she was calling forth, feel its intentions and potency against her skin. 

Halfway through the spell, she opened her eyes. Above the mass of pink and gold sparks, Dan’s face was softly illuminated. His eyes were huge dark pools, deep and soft. His lips were parted. 

Their gazes connected and held. The sparks started to flow toward him. His eyes widened, but he stayed still as she bid him. She could see his chest heaving as the magic swirled around his chest and throat, sinking into the flesh. The veins in his throat glowed pinkish orange, and for a single moment Holly could feel where they were connected - could feel his heart beating, hear his blood pumping, her magic becoming one with his body and bending it to her will. 

The force of it pressed him back against the couch and his hands flew out to grab at the cushions. The lights flicked off and on. The curtains flapped. A noise like wind howling through a cave filled her ears, and his, although the sound was only coming from within them both.

The light flared, then faded. The sparks turned a brilliant, shimmering white. Dan made a wordless noise of exclamation as they sparkled brighter than any diamond, and then disappeared.

Holly blinked away the sunspots in her vision and said, “Are you okay?”

Dan laughed shakily. “Um. I think so?”

“How do you feel?”

“Like I’m dreaming, sort of. That was…wow.”

“Good dream or bad dream?”

“Good dream.” He hadn’t stopped staring at her. Bolder now, his eyes drank in her face. “A very good dream.”

Holly didn’t know if the heat in her face was from the residual effects of the magic or not. The air in the room felt thick enough to cut with a knife. When she spoke, her voice was rough. “Sing for me.”

“What?”

“Your voice. I need to know. Did it work?”

“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Right.”

He floundered for a while, almost like he was more nervous than before. But when he finally started, Holly felt a surge of triumph and cut him off after the first line. There was no doubt in her mind.

“It worked!” she shouted, jumping up from the chair. She couldn’t help herself. There was nothing in the world like a spell perfectly cast on the first try. 

Dan was rubbing his throat and grinning just as widely as Holly. “Holy shit. Holy _shit._.” He stood up and practiced a scale, doing the whole _do re mi_ thing, and each note was clear and beautiful. “Holy shit!” 

He reached out and grabbed her hand. Impulsively, Holly squeezed it back. His hands were so huge that he could envelop hers entirely. This close, she could detect his faint clean scent, the lingering notes of mint and chamomile on his breath. 

She was so distracted that she forgot about the energy in her hands - the last few sparks of her power still clinging to her fingertips like static. Instead of being absorbed back into her or flung out into the air, they sank into Dan’s palm. He yelped and stumbled forward. 

“Oh, shit.” Holly dropped his hand and grabbed him around the shoulders. He ended up with his arms around her waist. For a split second his hair touched her face, and his nose brushed against her chest. Dan pulled back fast, eyes huge, his face redder than Holly would have thought possible.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted. “Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to - I - that was - I - ” He started to back up wildly, but his giant foot hit the leg of the coffee table and he started to fall, again.

Holly moved with pure instinct. She was still charged up with adrenaline, making it easier to call forth her power at will. She uttered three Latin words and tendrils of light shot from her fingers, enveloping Dan’s body and binding him in place against the pull of gravity.

“Oh my God,” Dan said dazedly, staring at the rings of golden light around his arms, like ropes. He struggled to get his feet under him. When he realized he couldn’t move, his mouth dropped open. The bonds circled his waist, his legs, even his feet. 

A total binding spell, pulled off with absolutely no preparation. Holly was proud. And maybe a little turned on.

Fuck.

“Holly?” Dan breathed.

“Yeah.”

“What…is this?”

“A binding spell. You were falling.”

“Oh.” Dan blinked. His tongue flicked out to wet his lips. Holly could see his chest heaving, could practically _hear_ his blood rushing downward.

“Here.” Holly wiggled her fingers, guiding Dan’s body back onto the couch.

“Thanks,” Dan said nervously, looking down at himself with shock. “Are you gonna, um, let me go?”

“Maybe,” she said lightly. She was enjoying herself. More than she thought she would. Something about Dan was driving her crazy and she couldn’t get enough of him. He was gentle, respectful, obviously sweet and good-hearted. He was attractive but didn’t seem to have any of the arrogance that usually went along with it. 

She wanted him. And she could tell he wanted her. He wanted her but would never make the first move. “Do you want me to?”

“Can you tell if I’m lying?”

“I could find out if I tried.”

“Then, um.” Dan swallowed. “I. I kind of like this. A lot. You, ah, you’re very - you’re very pretty. And I don’t - I don’t want to be a creep, but - yeah. I like this. And I don’t want you to let me go.”

“Good.” Holly made a fist, yanking the bonds tighter. 

Dan moaned. “Fuck.” His eyelids fluttered but he kept them open, like he didn’t want to stop staring at Holly. “Is this really happening?”

“Maybe you’re dreaming.” Holly peeled her shirt up slowly, letting her hot fingertips brush her bare skin. “What do you think?” When she pulled it over her head, she heard Dan gasp when he saw her black lacy bra.

“Oh my God,” he said again. “Jesus, Holly…”

Fuck, he was gorgeous. Holly felt arousal crash over her, with a sudden fury that surprised her. She could see the outline of his cock trapped in his tight jeans. He was hard, already, just from being bound to a couch and seeing her take off her shirt. It made her want to see how he would react to seeing the rest of her.

“What do you want?” she asked, one hand on her hip, the other tracing the lace edge of her bra. “You want to see more?”

“Can I?” He was shaking, she noticed. “God, please, yes.”

Holly toyed with her bra, but decided she liked the aesthetic of the black lace against the pallor of her skin. For now, she kept it on. She undid her skinny jeans instead and wiggled her hips to squirm free of them. Her panties didn’t match, but she was pretty sure Dan didn’t give a flying fuck. 

She felt his resistance to her magic bonds. He was struggling, wriggling his arms and legs and only getting tired and red-faced from his efforts. 

“Going somewhere, Dan?” she asked lightly.

He shook his head.

“Good. I like you like this.” She moved toward him, reaching down, sliding her fingers into his hair. “Helpless.”

“Okay,” Dan said as he got a good up-close view of her chest. “On one hand, this is the hottest thing that’s ever happened to me. But on the other, I’m remembering your story about witches collecting penises, and I’m kinda freaked out.”

He wasn’t actually scared, she could tell. Only joking, maybe to break the tension. 

Holly rolled her eyes at him and sat on his lap. “Tempting.” Dan’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. She leaned forward and placed her hands on his shoulders. “But I think I can still make use of it like this.”

Dan moaned again as Holly straddled one of his skinny thighs. Her panties were already wet. Her cunt was throbbing, the feeling of her slickness and the gentle friction making her light headed. She closed her eyes and flexed her legs, making it so that Dan’s thigh was applying the perfect amount of pressure against her. “Mmm,” she moaned softly, rocking her hips back and forth. She wasn’t desperate enough to hump his leg - well, to be honest, she was, but she wasn’t ready to give up her control yet. She wanted to make him wait, to draw his out as long as possible. 

“Can I kiss you?” Dan asked, and Holly’s eyes flew open. Out of all the things she expected Dan to beg her for as she put on such a wanton display, a kiss wasn’t high on the list.

She arched her back and moved her hands from his neck to his hair, looking down at his mouth. His lips weren’t very full, but his features were broad, and his mouth was extremely kissable. It had been so long since Holly had kissed anybody. It seemed more intimate than taking off her clothes. Holly enjoyed sex, but her heart was guarded, and to her, kissing was an act of love, not just a part of sex.

It was weird, then, that the more she thought about kissing Dan, the more she wanted it.

“Okay,” she murmured. “But not like this.”

“What do you - ” Dan started, and then, “Oh!”

Holly had cast the silent spell to dissipate the bonds. Dan, suddenly in control of his own body again, looked shocked. His thigh flexed, putting delicious pressure between Holly’s legs. She gasped, grinding forward. 

Dan’s eyes kindled. “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said, putting his arms around her waist. He was just helping her balance, not trying to control her at all.

“You’re not bad too bad yourself.”

“Thanks,” Dan laughed. He was looking up at her with anticipation in his eyes. 

Holly stared back, thinking, overanalyzing as always, her cold heart wistful, her mind caving in, her wetness driving out all other sensations until she could barely think straight -

_Then don’t. Don’t think, just do it. You want it. You want him._

Holly surged forward and pressed her mouth against his.

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it wasn’t this. Dan tasted like - like everything she’d ever enjoyed, like sweet herbs and spice, like autumn nights in the forest and the wonderful crisp scent of wind in the trees. She clutched his hair in her hands, her heart racing and her fingers tingling. Dan opened his mouth to gasp and Holly took advantage, sliding her tongue just barely inside to press against his.

They had to break apart to breathe. Dan said, “Fuck,” and slid his hands up her sides, slowly, unsure. “Can I…”

He was going for her bra. Holly wondered just how dextrous those long fingers were. “Yes,” she said, breathless, and leaned forward to give him access. 

Dan unhooked her bra at the speed of light, but when he slid the straps down her shoulders, he did so softly, slowly. When he pushed the cups away from her breasts, the look on his face was reverent. “Holy shit,” he said, and pulled her forward, burying his face in her chest. 

It was Holly’s turn to moan as Dan pressed kisses to her bare skin, mouthing over each nipple, his warm breath sending electricity shooting up her spine. His fingers stroked her back as he used his tongue to tease each nipple into a hard point. Holly felt herself weakening as she imagined that warm, wet tongue on other parts of her body.

“Dan,” she said hoarsely, forcing herself to pull back. “Enough.”

He whimpered, straining forward, but Holly rolled herself to the side. “Bedroom,” she said, and then, with more authority. “Now.”

“Bossy,” Dan grumbled.

“Something tells me you like me being bossy.”

“Can’t argue there.”

She led the way, Dan trailing after her like an eager puppy. With every step Holly could feel how soaking wet she was, how she was practically aching to be touched, licked, fingered. But she didn’t let her desperation show. Once they were in her bedroom, she circled around behind Dan and said, “Let me see you.”

“All of me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Dan’s body was long and lean, almost hairless. There was a sort of raw elegance to him, in the fine collarbones, the indent of his waist, the graceful lines of his legs. He was skinny, but lightly muscled. Pleasant to look at. More than pleasant. Dan grinned almost sheepishly as he undid his belt and pants. When the underwear came off, Holly froze and blinked. 

“Oh,” she said, before she could help it. Well. She had noticed the size of his bulge, when he was clothed, but she hadn’t expected him to be _that_ big. She swallowed hard. Dan, caught in her gaze, reached down to take himself in hand. He was so hard that the head of his cock was almost purple.

_Stay in control._

“No,” she said hoarsely. “Don’t touch yourself. Lay down on the bed.”

Holly waited until he obeyed to let her panties fall.

Dan looked like his heart had stopped. He started to sit up, reaching for her, his eyes roaming from her face to her breasts to down between her legs, and back again. Holly murmured a quick spell and flicked her fingers, flattening him back down against the bed.

“Wait. Do you have…” Dan started, his cock twitching as it stood straight up in the air. “Are we going to…”

“I’m a witch,” Holly said. “I’m not going to get pregnant, and I can heal anything else.”

“That’s one hell of a perk.”

“Besides,” Holly overrode him, “I’m not going to ride you. Yet.”

“What are you going to do to me?”

“You’ll find out soon.” Holly smiled at the lust and anticipation in his voice. She whispered a few words under her breath as she climbed onto the bed. The curtains fell on their own, and the lights turned off, plunging the room into relative darkness. With another incantation, all of the candles in the room came to light with a soft _whumph_. Holly’s fingertips glowed faintly as she flooded them with heat, and when she wrapped her hand around the base of Dan’s cock, he keened.

“Oh, God,” he said, as the heat in her hands turned to frigid cold, and then back again. Goosebumps prickled over Dan’s arms and thighs. “That feels crazy.”

She smiled and repeated the spell, this time running her fingers up his flat stomach, his chest, touching his small nipples. His cock was wet at the tip. Holly wanted to slide her thumb over the slickness, or take him into her mouth and show him that the hot-and-cold trick worked on her tongue, too - but she intended on teasing him a lot more before she did anything that was mostly for his pleasure.

“Sit up,” she said, releasing him from the bind. “Scoot down. Sit at the edge of the bed. Good boy.”

That made him shiver, although Holly wasn’t sure if it was from being ordered around, or praised like a dog. Either way, it was hot. 

“You’re going to eat me out,” she told him, lying on her back, propped up against the pillows. She spread her legs and watched his jaw drop at the view. “You’re going to eat my pussy until I tell you to stop.”

He crawled up clumsily to kneel between her legs on the bed, dragging his mouth lightly across her breasts, down the line of her torso, over her stomach to hover over her pussy. “You smell so good,” he told her, and kissed the inside of her thigh. And then his wide pink tongue darted out, and Holly almost bit through her bottom lip as he licked her firmly, practically from her perineum to her clit, like he was so greedy he just had to taste everything. 

He had practice, she could tell, and he liked to tease. But Holly didn’t want to be teased. She reached down and grabbed his hair, pulling it hard enough to make him groan. “I want it hard. Fast and hard.”

He moaned his assent into her skin and got to work, increasing the pressure of his tongue and starting a fast lapping rhythm across her clit, pausing every few seconds to pay attention to her folds, licking up her wetness like he couldn’t get enough of it. She trembled under him, her fingers tightening in his hair. He was getting desperate fast. His rhythm faltered as he started grinding his dick into the sheets. She pulled his hair and bucked her hips up, riding his face and groaning.

“Fuck,” she cried out as a finger slid inside her pussy. She hadn’t told him to finger her, but she was so fucking ready for it. She clenched around the intrusion, her eyes almost rolling back in her head. “Dan!”

“Mmm,” he moaned back, his lips vibrating wonderfully against her. His tongue made soft, steady circles around her sweet spot as his finger moved in and out slowly. Everything he did was so gentle, so intense. Holly’s back arched and her body thrummed wonderfully.

“That’s good,” she praised. “That’s so good.”

Dan’s mouth hovered over her, giving his tongue a break while his finger kept the rhythm. He licked her wetness from his lips and said, “I want to make you come. Please, Holly, I want to do it for you. Let me…”

She shivered all over at the desperation in his voice. And he wasn’t begging her to suck his dick or let him fuck her. He just wanted to please. Wanted to make her feel good, even though he was so hard it must be painful. 

“You don’t want me to do something for you?” she made herself ask, because while she liked being in control, she wasn’t a complete selfish sadist.

“That’s okay,” he rushed to answer. His voice was almost a whimper. “I can take care of myself, or…or you could help after, I don’t know. I don’t care. Just tell me to make you come. Tell me I’m a good boy.”

Holly moaned. How the fuck could she say no to that? “Make me come,” she said. “Show me how good you are. Show me how much you want this.”

Dan took the command seriously. His finger slipped out and buried his face against her pussy, his tongue pushing inside her as deep as it could go. His nose bumped up against her clit as his tongue wriggled in her. She tried to clench around it, shuddering with pleasure. Every muscle in her body felt like it was on fire, and it wasn’t magic anymore, at least not in the literal sense. Dan withdrew his tongue, gasping for air.

“Is this okay?” he asked, his eyes flickering up to check on her as he started going back in with two fingers. 

“Y-yes,” Holly managed, her toes curling at the fullness. Holy fuck, his fingers were _long_. She was so slick, so open for him, but it still felt fucking intense, especially when Dan started to pump them in and out of her as his tongue worked her clit. She was crazy sensitive, and Dan could tell - he didn’t try to clumsily press against her clit like some guys did, as if just pushing or licking it harder would feel good. He knew how to sweep his tongue across and around it instead. 

“Good boy,” she panted, feeling her climax start to roll over her like a wave swelling, rising, cresting. “Such a good boy for me, Dan.”

He sucked and stroked, harder, faster. Holly arched off the bed, lost in the pulsing current. Her own throaty groans filled her ears as she writhed down on him, her movements becoming jerky and desperate, until she came with a cry, clenching around his fingers. 

Dan mouthed her through it, lifting the pressure slightly but not stopping, and Holly shook and pulsed her way through the incredible rush. 

“Oh, wow.” Holly’s body sagged into the mattress, buzzing like a live wire. The aftershocks made her thighs twitch. “Oh, my God, Dan.”

“Just Dan is fine,” Dan joked. He was so gentle as he withdrew his soaking wet fingers and nuzzled her thigh. His back was heaving, but his hips were still. Holly was impressed with his restraint. He looked at her and bit his lip as he rolled to the side and started to jerk himself off.

She smiled at him wickedly and used a flick of her magic to yank his arm away. “You think I’m done with you already?”

Dan froze, eyes huge. 

“On your back,” she ordered. She wanted to see how obedient he could be.

Dan swallowed whatever he was going to say and hauled himself back up, taking Holly’s position in the middle of the bed. His hair fanned out across her pillow like a curly halo, but the rest of him looked markedly less angelic. His chin and lips still gleamed with her wetness and his eyes were hooded and lusty. Between his legs, his manhood stood tall and flushed, twitching needily. It looked even bigger than it was, with the contrast of Dan’s slim frame. 

He whimpered when she stroked him. When he tried to sit up, to reach out and take himself in hand, she pushed him back down with a short burst of magic. She didn’t bind him there, but he seemed to get the hint.

“Holly…” he whined, squirming. His hands bunched into fists, pinned to the bed as effectively as if he were really bound.

“Poor baby,” she said, only a little mockingly. “Does it hurt?”

Dan nodded, sucking in a breath as she rubbed the tip of her thumb over his slit. “P-please…”

“Please what? You want to put it in me?”

“So fucking bad, Holly, please…I’ve been good…”

“You have,” she granted, throwing a leg over his side and arching her back. The tip of his cock slid between her thighs. His hips twitched but he held himself still, letting her rub herself on him. And fuck, he felt huge, bigger than any toy she’d used on herself. She took a few deep breaths to relax. She was still wet and open, as ready as she could be. 

“Jesus fuck.” She broke out into a sweat almost immediately as she started to lower herself down on him. “Fuck, Dan.” Her voice was thick.

“Is it too much?”

Holly shook her head. “It’s, it’s good. It’s very good. Just…” It was hard to think straight, when she was this full. She could feel him pulsing inside her and it was driving her insane. “It’s a lot.”

He swore as she eased down further, shaking with the effort of not moving. “I’m not going to last,” he warned.

She laughed shakily. “Neither am I.” She was still worked up from his fingers and tongue, hypersensitive. As much as she wanted to take him and pin him down, ride him slow and steady until he was falling apart beneath her, there wasn’t time. Not today. Holly wanted to come again, and she wanted it right fucking now. She wanted to fuck herself sore and satisfied, to quiet the desperation inside her. She let out a noise that sounded like a growl and lifted her hips, almost pulling off entirely. And then she let herself drop back down, as far as she could take it.

Dan cried out her name as he slid back up inside her tight wet heat. 

“So fucking good,” she panted. “Fuck.” The angle was perfect. He was being good for her, too, being still like she told him. His eyes flickered from her breasts, to her face, back to her breasts, and then down to her pussy, stretched tight around his cock. Holly wished she could have the same view that Dan did, to watch his thick shaft sliding in and out of her. She didn’t know how he was still holding back. But he was doing it for her. 

“I wish you could see yourself,” Dan said suddenly.

“Yeah?” was the best she could do.

“Yeah. Do you even know how beautiful you are?”

It should spoil the mood, this sickly sweet romantic stuff in this middle of this desperate fuck, but somehow it didn’t. Somehow it flooded Holly with warmth, a warmth that pooled in her belly and traveled to her groin. She bit her lip and reached down to her clit. “You think I’m beautiful?”

“Beautiful. Powerful. And - and so tight, fuck, you feel so good. God, Holly.”

“You like being overpowered?” She ground herself down against him, chasing her climax.

“I - I think I do. By you.” He closed his eyes and tipped his head back, the perfect image of surrender.

Holly groaned as her mind filled with images, of Dan tied up and on his knees, following her like a puppy as he begged her to use him. Dan, aroused by her, terrified by her, completely under her thumb. She wondered how he would react if she whispered a spell that didn’t let him come at all, a spell that kept him erect for her but held back his climax, the perfect living toy. 

Her thighs began to ache with the strain of bouncing herself up and down. She could use magic, to help herself out, but she liked it better this way. The slight edge of pain made everything a little more wild, a little more desperate. When her muscles burned, her pussy clenched, making her feel so full she could barely take it. Sweat made her jagged bangs stick to her face. She could hold out for a while, and part of her wanted to, just to torture Dan - god, he was so fucking perfect to torture.

But mostly, she just wanted to come again, her need even greater than before her last orgasm. It always felt like this when she chased a second or third or fourth orgasm; like she was going to die if she didn’t get her release.

“Come on, Holly,” Dan whimpered. “Please…please…” 

“Fuck!” Holly dropped herself down and let herself fall forward. She braced herself with her hands on either side of his head, letting her legs straighten out, letting her gain some blessed friction against his pubic bone. “Oh, fuck, Dan.” She shuddered as she rocked her body, forward and back, and she did not admonish him when he started to weakly buck his hips up, fucking into her. 

“Oh my God,” Dan said, from somewhere beneath her breasts. And then he was kissing her, mouthing at her nipples, too weak to do anything but hold his tongue out - and his mouth was hot and wet, fuck, she wanted to crawl up and sit on his face, ride his tongue. He’d do that for her, he would, or she’d make him.

“Yes,” Dan gasped, “anything, you can do anything, just please let me - ”

Holly’s arousal burned brightly, and she was right fucking there, so close - she was slamming herself down to meet his weak thrusts, the friction spiralling up and up and up - and then her climax hit her like a wave to the face. She screamed, and her hands slipped, but Dan caught her by the shoulders and held her as she jerked and shuddered against him. She was clenching around him again, uncontrollably, and it was only a matter of seconds before she heard him cry out, too. 

Dan’s hands tightened on her shoulders. He said, “ _Holly_ ” in a fucked-out, gravely voice that sent shivers down her spine. And then she could feel all his tension melt away, and she knew he’d come too, although she was too warm and wet and overwhelmed to feel it.

Twitching, oversensitive, Holly made herself dismount slowly. “Good boy,” she whispered, as she lifted herself off of him inch by inch. He was soaked in her arousal, his pubic hair matted down. When he opened his eyes, he smiled to find her staring at him. 

And to Holly’s dismay, it was her turn to blush. Quickly, she rolled on her back next to him, hoping to maintain her composure.

“Fuck,” Dan said as he propped himself up on one arm. “That was amazing.” His cheeks were flushed, his hair a wild tangle from Holly’s hands mussing it. He rested his chin on Holly’s hip, looking up at her through his damp eyelashes. Holly stared back, her mouth open as she gasped for air. 

It took a while for her to collect herself. When she did, she said, “You were a _very_ good boy.”

“Good enough to be able to see you again after tonight?”

Well. She appreciated him being direct. “Probably, yeah.”

“I’ll have to start working out or something so you don’t give me a heart attack,” Dan said, and laughed. 

“You’re already assuming there will be a next time?” she teased. She was starting to feel that post-sex giddiness too. “Bold of you.”

“Hoping. Not assuming. Just wishing very, very hard.”

“You want me to return the favour, I imagine,” she said, not without trepidation. She wasn’t really sure if Dan’s cock would fit in her mouth. She was willing to try, if it meant she’d be getting multiple orgasms from him again.

But Dan shook his head. “That sounds incredible, but I think I still owe you.”

“For what?”

“For saving my career.”

“You paid for that,” Holly said, her head thunking back against the pillow. “We’re square.”

“Then I’ll do whatever you want me to do,” Dan said, “as long as you show me more magic when we do it. You know how you can, um, hold me in place?”

“The binding spell?” Holly arched an eyebrow. “I can get _very_ creative with that.”

And then she laughed at the excitement that filled his face, and he was scrambling up to lay beside her, both of them smiling as they felt the pulse of connection, of something brand new blooming in their lives.

This city didn’t feel so lonely anymore.


End file.
